Ginebra (Reuters)
Friday 11 of March, 2016
By David Lague & Stephanie Nebehay
The Buddhist group leading a global harassment campaign against the Dalai Lama, has canceled all its demonstrations and has been dismantled, according to a statement on their website.
The announcement comes after a REUTERS investigation revealed in December (2015) that the ruling party in China, The Communist Party, was behind the Buddhist religious sect that has organized protests against the Dalai Lama in almost every country he visited.
Reuters found that the sect had become a key tool in China's campaign to discredit the Tibetan spiritual leader.
File (in English) REUTERS investigation here
NOTICIA en Spanish Tibet Office
Buddhist Protesters Harassing Dalai Lama Declare End of Campaign
TibetanReview | 13 March
A group largely drawn from a section of Western followers who worship a controversial Tibetan spirit and who have harassed the spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, during his visits abroad during the past years, has declared the end of its demonstrations and has dissolved. A visit to the International Shugden Community website (ISC) just reveal this special announcement: “The directors of the International Shugden Community previously announced that on 1º December 2015 had decided to completely stop organizing demonstrations against the Dalai Lama. Now, From the 10 March 2016, the International Shugden Community will be dissolved, including their websites.”
Signed by Len Foley, Representative of the International Shugden Community, He ends by saying “May everyone be happy.”
Shugden protesters in London. stock photo
When reporting the incident, Reuters said the 12 March that the announcement comes after its investigation revealed in December 2015 that the ruling Communist Party of China supported the Buddhist religious sect and was behind the protests that had confronted the Dalai Lama in almost all the countries he visited. Reuters also said it had learned that the sect had become a key instrument in China's campaign to discredit the Tibetan spiritual leader..
For your part, The group gave no reason for ending its campaign of public demonstrations against the Dalai Lama., or its own dissolution.
Reuters quoted the Dalai Lama as saying in comments on the sidelines of a news conference in Geneva, he 11 March, that he was aware of the ISC's decision to dissolve.
The group is mainly centered in the United Kingdom and is associated with the Tibetan Buddhist teacher Geshe Kalsang Gyatso. In the United States, ISC is registered as a California charitable association. It also has a presence in some other countries and enjoys open backing and support from the Chinese government.. Reuters reported in December 2015 that an internal document distributed by the Communist Party to Chinese officials in 2014, He described the Shugden issue as “an important front in our fight against the Dalai clique.”
The group's complaint against the Dalai Lama is the latter's advice against the cult of a 17th century Tibetan spirit, called Dorje Shugden, also known by its original name, Dolgyal. The Dalai Lama has said that Shugden is a malevolent spirit, that worshiping spirits is not Buddhist and that it is also a divisive religious figure. However, Shugden devotees respond that the spirit is an enlightened being and that giving advice against it is a violation of their religious freedom. –
